Independent publishers making progress on diversity and flexibilty, new IPG report says

Independent publishers are diversifying their teams and embracing new flexible working patterns, new research from the Independent Publishers Guild has shown.

The first part of the 2024 Independent Publishing Report, based on a survey of the IPG’s members, shows 13% of publishers’ teams are what the IPG referred to as non-white. While this is still short of the national average, it is a notable increase from the figure of 10% at the time of the last survey in late 2022.

The report also reveals that around half (49%) of IPG members’ staff are now home-based. Another 39% have hybrid working patterns, while only 12% work fully in an office. Among members who offer hybrid working, just over half (54%) have a minimum number of office days for full-time staff. Independent publishers also provide flexibility in hours, with 32% of all staff now working part-time.

Other findings from the workforce survey include:

• nearly two thirds (64%) of IPG members’ employees are women
• 4% of staff need accommodations for physical or mental differences—well below the national average
• 11% of members say they have vacancies that are hard to fill at the moment.

The Independent Publishing Report also identifies IPG members’ key issues in 2024, including artificial intelligence. It shows publishers are still adapting to AI’s impact, and only 18% think they are ready for the challenges and opportunities it brings.

Meanwhile a fifth (21%) of members told the survey they now have a formal sustainability policy, while half (49%) have some guidelines and 30% have no established guidance.

The Independent Publishing Report is conducted for the IPG by independent research agency Shift Insight and supported by Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS).

Bridget Shine, chief executive of the IPG, said: "This important research shows IPG members have made good progress on the urgent issue of diversifying the workforce, and it confirms how the new flexibility in working that emerged during Covid has become permanent. Publishers know there is much more work to be done on diversity and other big issues like AI and sustainability, and these results will help the IPG shape our services and resources to support their efforts."